The company said Edelman was appointed "following a thorough RFP process" that included APCO, Golin and MSL. The account is worth somewhere in the region of $10m (£7.7m), Nissan chief communications officer Jonathan Adashek told PRWeek.

A statement from the company said: "We are excited to welcome the Edelman team to the Nissan family and look forward to working with them on the modernisation of our global communications function and [in helping] support the growth strategy of our company and our brands."

Adashek said Edelman would handle PR for the Nissan, Datsun and Infiniti car brands, which are owned by the Nissan Motor Company.

Adashek added that Edelman’s remit would include "all traditional strands of PR". He said: "Edelman’s work will include product, internal, corporate and other special projects."

The agency has not yet officially started working with Nissan, but Adashek said Edelman had already completed a series of projects.

He also confirmed PR firm Teneo would continue to handle parts of the car manufacturer’s corporate work. He added that Nissan would continue to work with "other agency partners" in certain regions.